Do not close the Bay Plaza Barnes and Noble retail location!

"The New Bronx" is a growing retail center, with cell phone stores, clothing stores, and chain restaurants sprouting on every corner. We just opened the largest indoor mall in New York City in 40 years.

But by the end of the year, "The New Bronx" will be the only borough in New York without a bookstore.

In a borough with nearly a dozen institutions of higher education and almost 20 percent of its residents now possessing a bachelor's degree, the lack of accessibility to quality literature, in addition to art and hobby supplies, is truly alarming.

Community residents will no longer have a place to purchase novels, instruction books, nor training manuals for important exams such as the SATs. They will no longer be able to meet their favorite authors or celebrities, including Steve Harvey and Joel Osteen.

In addition, dozens of Bronxites will now be out of work and forced to find jobs elsewhere.

The signers of this petition demand that Prestige Properties arrange a fair leasing deal for the bookstore, and allow it to stay in the area. The Bronx is already the poorest county in the country. We must not let it become the stupidest.